The past few days brought news of yet another cyberattack. At first it was believed the “NotPetya” attack was a ransomware ploy due to the typical ransomware screen displayed to victims demanding $300 in bitcoins to decrypt their data. As it turns out it was not a ransomware attempt, but destructive wiper. NotPetya locks the victim’s files and then throws away the decryption key. Victims never had a chance to recover your files.
The bulk of the victims are located in the Ukraine and include Ukraine’s central bank, airport, metro transport and even the Chernobyl power plant. Analysts suspect NonPetya was created specifically to disrupt infrastructure in the Ukraine. But...

For the second consecutive year, On Line Support, Inc. has been recognized as winner of the Vancouver Business Journal's Best in Business award in the IT Service Provider category.
The Best in Business Awards are presented annually by the Vancouver Business Journal to recognize Vancouver, Washington businesses who set the standard for quality and service. The local business community is invited to vote for the businesses in a multitude of categories that have earned their trust. Businesses receiving the most votes in their category are recognized as Best in Business.
Thank you to our many customers and the communities we serve for bestowing this honor on On Line Support!

Your data, in the wrong hands can have extremely negative consquences, so when it comes time to dispose of hard drives and tapes containing your data, proper removal is vital. Simply deleting the files is not enough. Deleting a file removes the references to the locations to the data from the file system, but the data remains on the disk, which can easily be recovered in whole or in part by others looking to capture your data.
So what about using the common “Smash and Destroy” method of destroying data before recycling it? Smashing the media certainly makes it more difficult to retrieve the data, but highly skilled technicians can...

Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. Basically, your data is “kidnapped” until you pay the requested sum of money to regain access to your files. Ransomware attacks use many different tactics. Individuals, hospitals, schools, government, and businesses of any size have all been targeted by ransomware attackers.
According to Microsoft:
There are different types of ransomware. However, all of them will prevent you from using your PC normally, and they will all ask you to do something before you can use your PC.
They can target any PC users, whether it’s a home computer,...

Latest Blog Entry

The past few days brought news of yet another cyberattack. At first it was believed the “NotPetya” attack was a ransomware ploy due to the typical ransomware screen displayed to victims demanding $300 in bitcoins to decrypt their da...